Yaalon: ISIL Enjoyed Turkish Money for Oil

Israeli Defense Minister said on Tuesday that the Takfiri group, ISIL (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant), had been funded with 'Turkish money,' an assertion that Ankara has direct links with the insurgents in Syria.

"It's up to Turkey, the Turkish government, the Turkish leadership, to decide whether they want to be part of any kind of cooperation to fight terrorism. This is not the case so far," Yaalon told reporters in Athens, after meeting his Greek counterpart, Panos Kammenos, Reuters news agency reported.

"As you know, Daesh enjoyed Turkish money for oil for a very, very long period of time. I hope that it will be ended," Yaalon said, referring to Arabic acronym of ISIL.

Turkey has denied permitting oil smuggling by the Takfiri militant group, which holds swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq. Last month, Russia said that the Turkish government and President Tayyip Erdogan's family were in league with ISIL to smuggle oil.

Yaalon also said that Turkey had "permitted jihadists to move from Europe to Syria and Iraq and back, as part of Daesh's terrorist network, and I hope this will stop too," according to a Greek transcript provided by the Israeli defense ministry.